Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Plus Two More

Catching up on a few items we were watching on eBay, starting with Donald Byrd, Byrd in Flight, Blue Note 4048. This was an original mono pressing with the West 63rd Street labels. The record and cover were both listed in VG+ condition. The final price was $766. Given what we’ve seen in the market lately, I expected a higher price. In mint condition this record has sold for as much as $1,712, according to Popsike, and has surpassed $1,000 nearly 10 times. Read more

Rare Jazz Vinyl, Pristine and Not

On my eBay watch list this week are some rare Gene Ammons records from our friend Rudolf, including Gene Ammons All Stars, Jammin’ With Gene, Prestige 7060. This is an original New York pressing that looks to be in pristine, nearly new condition. The bidding is at $106 with more than four days left on the auction. I don’t often listen to these jam session type records, but whenever I do, I am pleasantly surprised. Of course, it does help to have musicians like Ammons, Jackie Mclean, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd, Doug Watkins and Mal Waldron. Rudolf, if you are watching Jazz Collector my question is: Are you selling duplicates or are you digging deeper into your own collection, perhaps starting with the A’s? While we’re on the subject, here’s another: Gene Ammons, Funky Hi-Fi Jam Session, Prestige 7083. This is another original New York promo copy that also looks to be in pristine condition. Where can you possibly find records like these in that condition, like buying them new in a record store in the ’50s. Bidding on this is at about $102, also with more than four days left. Read more

Random and Rare Jazz Vinyl

Back to my eBay watch list, starting with Helen Merrill, Emarcy 36006. I put this in my queue without really looking at the listing because the price was  getting up there. It finally sold for $710. When I finally did look at the listing, just now, I was pretty surprised to not see the drummer logo. So this was not an original pressing. It was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover, and having this record in M- playing condition would be nice. We are seeing the rise in value of second pressings pretty consistently now, so I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise, even though, to me, it was. Read more

Back To Blue Note, Prestige and Fond Memories

Just logged onto eBay for the first time in a couple of weeks and my searches led me very quickly to a wide range of Blue Notes and Prestiges currently up for auction, almost all of which seem destined to sell for pretty high prices, indicative that the demand is continuing to be as strong as ever for rare and vintage jazz LPs, particularly for records on these iconic labels. Here are a few that I’ve put into my watch list, starting with Jackie McLean, New Soil, Blue Note 4013. This is an original deep-groove West 63rd Street pressing. The record and cover both look to be in M- condition and that cover looks particularly nice, with an important caveat (see the Lee Morgan record below). The bidding is currently at $350 and the auction closes about two hours from the time I am typing this. There are 10 bidders and 24 watchers and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see this record enter or approach the $1,000 bin. But what about that cover?

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Rare Jazz Vinyl and A Question about Reissues

Here are some rare jazz records we are watching on eBay, starting with a few from our friends at the Jazz Record Center, including: Lester Young, The President Plays with the Oscar Peterson Trio, Norgran 1054. This is an original yellow label pressing that looks to be in M- condition for the record and the cover. This is my personal favorite out of all the Lester Young records on the Norgran and Verve labels, both musically and for the David Stone Martin cover, which looks especially nice in this photo. The bidding on this copy is in the $165 range with about four hours left in the auction as of this posting. Read more

Shades Of . . . . .

Well, as you can see, the long and painful (for you) wait has finally ended. Somehow, in the middle of a pandemic, I have been able to procure an original copy of the infamous Shades of Redd, by Freddie Redd, Blue Note 4045. It was no simple twist of fate, but a result of the constant hocking by me on Jazz Collector and a very generous and thoughtful reader who perhaps took pity on me, or perhaps was just sick of my whining, or, simply, was happy to parlay his own two copies of Shades of Redd into one really good copy of Shades of Redd and another vaunted Blue Note gem to satisfy a need from his own want list. Let me tell the story that led to the pictures accompanying this article, taken in my lovely home in The Berkshires by The Lovely Mrs. JC.

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To Bid, or Not to Bid

Needless to say, I did not bid on that copy of Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. I was convinced that there was enough difference of opinion on the cover to avoid taking the risk. In any case, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have bid enough to win the record anyway. The final price was $1,624, and who knows how much higher the winning bidder actually bid. Perhaps if it had been a mint copy, but I’m guessing that mint copies will now only be available in the $2,000 or even $3,000 bin. In any case, time to move on. The Jazz Record Center has a copy of Jackie McLean, The New Tradition, Ad Lib 6601. This is an original pressing. The record looks to be in VG++ condition and the cover probably around VG+. The bidding is in the range of $2,250 and the auction closes in a little more than a day. I would love to replace that record in my collection, and I like the fact that it is from the Jazz Record Center, but the price is beyond my reach, financially and philosophically.

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Vinyl Musings and a Plea to Help Kenny Burrell

I spent the last three weeks galivanting around Europe. Alas, no record stores or scores on this trip, not even any live jazz. But, I’m back and checking up on some of the things I missed whilst away, including an auction from the Jazz Record Center that featured Art Pepper, Modern Art, Intro 606. This was an original pressing that looked to be in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The final price was $2,225. The same auction also featured Bill Evans Trio, Portrait in Jazz, Riverside 315. This was an original pressing with the small blue and silver reels logo. The record and cover both looked to be in new, pristine condition. The final price was $1,385. Finally, this is not music I am familiar with, but I’m sure it will be of interest to Clifford and other readers: Maulawi, Strata SRI-104-74. This looks to be an original pressing in M- condition. The final price was $910.

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Soul Sisters, Smithvilles and Other Vinyl Rarities

Since I haven’t been posting as frequently as I used to, I find I have a backlog in my watchlist of items I meant to write about, but haven’t had a chance. So let’s go back a few weeks and see what we missed, starting with Horace Silver, Serenade to a Soul Sister, Blue Note 4277. This was an original Liberty Mono pressing and was part of the recent Jazz Record Center auction. I honestly never realized any copy of this record was viewed as highly collectible until I read the JRC’s description of it as “the rare Van Gelder-stamped mono pressing.” Apparently these mono pressings were never sold to the public. I often find I learn something new whenever JRC has an auction. This copy was in M- condition for the record and the cover. The final price was $464. Guess I’ll have to settle for my nice stereo pressing.

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Warhol, Blue Notes, Sun Ra: An Eclectic Day at Jazz Collector

It’s not often that you go onto eBay and find $40,000 items in a search of Jazz records and think that, yes, perhaps that is a legitimate price someone would pay. What do you think of this: Original Study Andy Warhol RCA Records Kenny Burrell Blue Note 1543 Jazz Album? From the listing it looks like an original pen and ink drawing from Warhol’s own hand. It seems to be that there is enough certification to assert that this really is a Warhol original. I’d hang it in my home. Not for $40,000, but I’d still hang it in my home. This has already gone through one eBay cycle that I know of and is back again at the same $40,000 start price. There is a “Best Offer” option as well, so you never know.  Read more

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